Organizing specialist and stay-at-home mom Ellie Avery has adjusted fairly well to her Air Force officer husband's latest posting in North Dawkins, Georgia. Although her small organizing business has failed to generate any income since the move, Ellie's hands are pretty full with her three-year-old daughter and toddler son. But she misses having "me" time, so she takes the opportunity to walk the family dog alone when she can. During one of those walks, she stumbles upon a pair of skulls and a grave that's been eroded away in an abandoned cemetery.
Since graves generally have only one body in them, the second set of remains is a mystery. Speculation runs rife that the second body is reporter Jodi Lockworth, missing for ten months now. As it turns out Jodi was the only prior tenant in the house the Averys are now renting. Although Ellie tries to stay out of the investigation she can't refuse the pleas of Jodi's mother, Nita Lockworth. One mystery turns into two as a decades-old disappearance also takes center stage.
Which missing person is the extra corpse? Was William Nash really lynched back in the segregated fifties? Or is something more behind his rumored death? Was Jodi killed as a result of her reporting? Or did she run off and leave everything behind? Will Ellie be able to pull off planning two parties while looking into two mysteries? Will Ellie have to give up her organizing business as a failure? That question won't be an issue if a killer has anything to say about it.
MAGNOLIAS, MOONLIGHT, AND MURDER is Ms. Rosett's fourth Mom Zone mystery. I didn't have any problems following the storyline despite not having read the previous books. Ellie's a likable heroine with a realistic home life. Party planning tips are included as well throughout the story. Cozy readers will want to snap up this engaging mystery.
Settling her familyβAir Force pilot Mitch, baby Nathan, and
daughter Livvyβinto their new home in Georgia, Ellie Avery
is busier than ever. With two children under four, a party
to plan for Mitch's promotion, and new contacts to develop
for her organizing business, Ellie's eager to relax by
taking Rex, the family Rottweiler, for a peaceful stroll.
But what they find is anything but tranquil. As eveningβs
shadows fall, Ellie stumbles into an abandoned graveyard
disturbed by flooding from a recent storm. It's a chilling
enough setting without the shocking specter of two dead
bodies....unearthed from the same grave.
The skeleton that belongs in the washed-out gravesite is
that of a young casualty of World War I. The probable
identity of the fresher corpse leads Ellie into a
missing-person case centered around Jodi Lockworth, a
vibrant young woman who once lived in the house the Averys
are now renting. Although Jodi was a beloved member of the
community, her part-time gig as a newspaper reporter may
have put her on the wrong side of a few prominent citizens.
When Ellie discovers a vital clue in her very own home, she
becomes the next target of a sinister schemer whoβll stop at
nothing to protect a deadly secret.
Now, with a double mystery brewing and dozens of
guests about to arrive in her back yard, Ellie's agenda is
once again packed. The only thing she hasn't penciled in is
one killer of a party crasher who intends to make this
celebration Ellie's last...
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